title: Is low BMI associated with specific drug use among injecting drug users?
abstract: Body mass index (BMI) of a sample of people who regularly inject drugs (N = 781) was examined to gauge the impact of specific types of drug use. Cross-sectional interviews were undertaken in 2010 as part of a national monitoring program funded by the Australian Government. Latent class analysis identified three groups of drug users, with heroin users at 3.4 times the risk of being underweight compared with amphetamine users, and amphetamine users were at almost twice the odds of being obese compared with lower level morphine users. Nutrition should play a part in harm minimization.
authors.affiliation: 1Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre, School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Fairlie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: McIlwraith
authors.forename: Kim Steven
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Betts
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jenkinson
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hickey
authors.forename: Lucinda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001315:Australia; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D003932:Heroin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000139:chemically induced; D050177:Overweight / Q000139:chemically induced*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous; D013851:Thinness / Q000139:chemically induced*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003932:Heroin; D009020:Morphine; D000661:Amphetamine